Academic Care & Wellbeing

Dear Parents/Carers of Year 7 and 9 Students,

By now you will have received your child/ren’s 2026 Naplan report. Naplan supplies schools with a range of data points that provide a snapshot of where student and cohort learning is at a particular point in time. We respond to this data in a variety of ways as a school, including through:

• a focus on whole school pedagogical practice through Professional Learning Communities (PLC’s) for teachers 

• a whole school writing focus with teachers from all faculties delivering writing instructional models that reflect the requirements of their curriculum

• teacher training in the use of student data to identify students’ strengths and weaknesses and differentiate learning materials appropriately to reflect these

• targeted small group and 1:1 intervention for students who are below stage level

• use of the Maths Pathways program in Years 7 and 8 which allows students to complete mathematics work from the beginning of Stage 1 through to end of Stage 5, depending on individual need

• an extension Maths/Science course in Stage 4 led by our Science Coordinator and Numeracy Instructional Teacher

• extracurricular offerings such as DaVinci Decathlon and Tournament of Minds       

It is important to keep in mind that Year 7 Naplan results are more a reflection of primary learning than secondary learning, given Naplan is sat in Term 1. For context, our 2026 cohort consists of 211 students from around 40 feeder schools, with approximately half of these students coming from non-Catholic primary schools. This means Year 7 is a key time for developing a clear and responsive culture of learning at Kildare. Using the data from Naplan, as well as the OARS testing completed at the beginning of the school year, and the ongoing formative assessment taking place in classrooms every lesson, our teachers are data-informed and proficient at integrating this information into their professional practice. We use this knowledge to ensure our teaching is responsive to student needs. 

We know the strategies outlined in the bullet points above are having a positive impact on teaching and learning at Kildare. Year 9 Naplan cohort results indicate our collective teaching efforts in writing are having a notable impact with 68% of students achieving ‘strong’ or ‘exceeding’ in the 2026 cohort, placing Kildare first in the diocese for Naplan writing this year. Our numeracy results are above the diocesan mean (average) score. We have also seen promising growth in our spelling data which is above both diocesan and SSSG mean scores. As a College, we continuously respond to data to ensure our students are reaching their full potential and we work alongside CEDWW in meeting these objectives.   

If you have any questions or concerns regarding your child/ren’s 2026 Naplan results, please contact me by Compass or by calling the College on (02) 6932 6100. 

Lauren Verdon | Leader of Learning & Teaching: Pedagogy, Data and Intervention